black magic

So Sorry to hear of your loss. RIP Scout What a lovely looking dog with a great name. You have some beautiful photos of her. My thoughts are with you at this hard time.

We could swap lounges, I have a black dog, cream lounge The lounge also comes with a free gift............ my OH who always seems to get pen and dirty feet marks on it. I'm for ever cleaning it. When we got it the man said, "I take it you don't have kids" My vacuum has one of those turbo pet hair attachments couldn't live without it. Scout doesn't get to go on our lounge, but the hair still finds its way there!

:rolleyes: It looks great, and thank you for doing it so quickly

That looks great, Sorry I should have mentioned that Scout is a girl though Your very talented :rolleyes: I wish I was as clever.

Hi, I was wondering if anyone would be able to make me a signature of my lab Scout. I've admired everyone's for such a long time and I tried to make one, with out much luck. I would greatly appreciate it here are some pictures, I was thinking of a mirror image look. Her as a puppy looking towards her big. You do not have to use all the pictures and it doesn't have to be mirroed if it doesn't look any good. I'd be happy with anything, any colours etc

Hi, I have a 7 mth old lab, she is my first dog, so I'm not experienced in giving you advice on what's the right thing to do. I can however share with you what we have done with Scout. We found that Yelping or saying NO in a high voice revved her up and made her worse. We found standing up and folding our arms or putting our arms over our faces worked better. Teaching your kids to stand up then fold their arms may be the way to go. The 3yo should pick that up easily. Also try to limit the kids wearing clothes with tassels or string hanging from them, as it is like dangling an irresistible invitation in front of a lab. We have found that because Scout loves being around people so much that removing our attention from her or giving her short time outs has worked the best when she displays behaviours we don't want to promote. We have re introduced the no word again now, she seems to get it alot better and it doesn't send her crazy. Also someone else told me to set them up to get a reward when they are gentle with her mouth e.g. we held a treat in the palm of our hands, and she would try and grab at it, we held it tight in our hand then the minute she licked our hand we said gentle and released the treat. They learn quickly when there is food involved. Scout also doesn't get a pat or touched by OH or myself until all four of her feet are on the floor! Lab puppies are full of life and energy hey! ours definitely keeps us on our toes! good luck

Scout and I went to two different puppy preschools. Class 1 and class 2 were very different. Class 1 was run by a local vet clinic and class 2 at a vet clinic but by an independent trainer. I liked class 2 better, and I think Scout enjoyed class 2 the most as well. Class 1 was a bit off free for all and Scout got roughed up a bit the second time we went. I found that after that class, she begun to run for cover under everyone’s chairs during off lead time. (And she is one of those rough labs , but it got too much for her) As a first time dog owner I did find the info on flea’s ticks and all that important, but a booklet would have been just as handy to refer to and read up at home. Class 1 gave the dogs kongs and greenies to keep them busy during the talks (we were far enough away from each other to not have any food issues between the dogs) which resulted in the class keeping pretty quiet and was a nice idea, kind of made you feel like they were not just worried about just making money from the classes. I loved everything about class 2 they taught us practical stuff, which would happen in everyday situations, like when you're out walking your dog. He taught us how to let the dogs meet on lead, and how to avoid getting tangled up together. He set up obstacle courses that we had to lead our dogs around, including up ramps, onto boxes, down ramps, sitting in a target area. I found this gave us a good foundation for walking on a lead rather than just pulling your dog to where you wanted them to go. We did exercises like what we would face if we were out at a cafe or on a picnic with our dogs. We had to sit in a chair and ask our puppies to sit or lay next to us, then pretend to drink a cup of water, without any interferance from our pups. There was a huge focus on getting the dogs ready for vet examinations, getting them used to having ears and feet touched and tail being lifted. Lots of work that helped establishes a connection between puppy and owner. they were lo very small classes. He had his very sensible well trained 6yo dog with him which he did alot of demonstrating with, and which the puppies got to hang out with. It was great. A very dedicated trainer who you could see loved dogs very much. You got the feeling that the reward for him in his job was seeing happy owners and dogs rather than money in his pocket for e.g. before even paying for or attending the first class I emailed him with a problem I had with Scout and he called me on my mobile that evening and talked to me for about half an hour on how to approach the issue. I couldn't have got a better 2nd experience.

Scout is getting spayed on friday, she will be 6mths. I didn't pick the time based around her age, rather around when someone could be around for her most after the op. I'll be on holidays for two weeks, from fri so it seemed the best time to do it. We have been getting flyers in the mail from a vet that we saw once, reminding us to desex her for the past two months. I felt they were really pushing for us to get it done mainly to make money from us not for the best interest of the dog. Scout is our first dog so I'm not sure what to expect in terms of how she will feel after it. What should I expect???? Martha is soooo cute

Hi, I just sent you the contact of a delta accredited trainer I have used in Wollongong who I thought was great!

Under the general dog discussion forum part there it says breed sub forum. Click on that and look for the thread "Those crazy Labradors" at the moment its on page 2. I'm not sure what to do with the crate training, We were lucky Scout had the toileting down pat after two weeks ;) We had a strict routine, all meals fed at the same time and I took note of the times she peed and pooped, I found they were quite regular. She still does a 9:30pm poo every night. ;)

oops double post

We got Martha when she was just six weeks old and she's now about to turn eleven weeks. (Weird. I feel like I've known her forever. It's actually only five weeks.) I can categorically state that she gets more mental every day. I think mentalism is condition that increases with age and, I suspect, with feelings of being pent up — she knows there is a world outside our front door now, but she's not allowed out in it! (Or at least, hardly ever. Puppy school's all right, but I suspect she'd rather be playing with Grown-Up Dogs in the Big Park.) Tayza may well end up being chilled out compared to Martha (who's not at all "chilled out", although she's quite often "passed out"), but I think he'll definitely get crazier than he is right now. As I understand it, the really testing times come when their six months old! At least we're going through it together. botheration, I love your picture at the bottom of your post. It's so cute!

Hi there, My lab Scout is now 18 weeks old, over all she has been pretty chilled out. At times though she has these moments we call "zoomies" we can be playing or sitting quietly together and all of a sudden she jumps up and takes off and does a lap around the house or back yard and comes right back to where she was. It is so funny when she does it. Her bum scoots under herself, her ears fly back and the whites of her eyes show, I've tried to get photos but she is just to fast. It still cracks me up when she does it. Kristen_e102 you should join us on the lab thread. Everyone is really friendly and have great advice Here is our girl

Hi, Good luck with your two pups when they arrive. We got a black lab (girl) in may this year. She is the first dog I've owned so I'm not someone who can offer knowledgeable advice, but I can share some of our moments. Scout has been both a delight and rascal at times. My Partner has a 9 year old sister who loves to visit our pup. My OH and I have put alot of time into basic training with our pup, and she is doing really well with her commands, Having said that though I would never leave her alone with any child, as she can be such a goof ball at times. I think it's important to remember how strong these pups can be. for e.g. down the beach the other day our pup chased after a tumbling leaf and caused the 9 year old to face plant in the sand. This could have been a disaster had we been near a road, and I have told OH the sister is not to walk our pup as I feel this could have also been detrimental to our training. That incident could have resulted in our pup learning if I pull hard, she falls and I get to run free. The last thing I want is a dog that pulls on the lead to get where she wants. On puppy preschool, make sure you do your homework, and find a good one, even go and watch some before you choose where to go. I did two lots of puppy training with our pup, one at the local vet, I think it was run by the nurse, and the other with a delta certified trainer. The vet nurse training was good for info on ticks, fleas and general care, but I found the puppy play to be a bit like "stacks on" and a mad frenzy of puppies getting overly hyped up. My pup ended up getting a bit scared during the free play. The training I did with the delta trainer on the other hand was fantastic. I learnt so much about handling my pup and all the things I was doing wrong when asking things of her. The second training had on lead play between the pups and it was in a situation that we would face when out walking our dogs in the real world. Having doing the two lots of training and seeing the difference in them both really opened my inexperienced eyes up to how it could make or break your puppy. My pup sleeps in a crate and she seems to love it. I think it's important for them to have a place that they can escape the hectic pace of children when they want. Our 9yo sister knows she is not to touch or go near our pup when is in her crate. We want to keep it as her special place. I wish you all the best with your pups do you have any names picked out?

Hi, Thanks for the replies. My OH rang the vet and spoke to them about our pup. They said that they can get a small dose of KC after the vaccination spray. I'm a bit cranky, as I did ask the vet after her vaccinations if there would be side effects, but they said she could be tired but thats all. Had i been informed I prob would have been a bit prepared for the horrible gagging which woke me in the early hours of the morning. Anyway I'm sure I'll have many hair raising moments in the future. She is getting better, only seems to cough and hack when she goes outside in the cold, or late at night.

My Lab puppy was given the kennel cough spray vaccine at the vet on sat evening. Last night I awoke at 1am to hear her coughing really bad, almost sounded like she was choking, or trying to cough up something and she did throw up a little bit of white phlegm like stuff I was wondering if the vaccine can cause a case of kennel cough? She was in her crate so I don't think she ate anything strange. She is still her happy self, and is eating ok, the cough hasn't been to bad today, she only coughed once. but last night it really worried me, had it not settled down like it did at 3am I was going to call the vet. (First time dog owner it freaked me out a bit). Has anyone experienced this before. Should I still take her to the vet? Thanks

Hi, I have been going to puppy training with my lab pup, and found it a great help. Have a look at the delta society web site, they have some accredited trainers listed on their site. I have been seeing Trevor Crittenden who does puppy classes at Balgownie vet clinic (Wollongong) it's not to far from you. He is great, very helpful and easy to chat to I'm really happy with his methods, and have seen great results in my pup in just two weeks. I'm sure there would be someone listed up your way on the site. Good luck!

If you want your pup to be ok with people near food bowl, it is best to 'put food in' rather than 'take it out' so that your pups is glad you are near the food bowl and not distrusting of you and feeling the need to hide her food. I hadn't thought of it that way it makes sense now I think of it. I'll do it that way from now on. Was following instructions from puppy preschool. It's great to have this site and get second opinions Thankyou

She was doing both, however she seems to be getting better with the lead. As some of you mentioned outside distractions usually work, that was the case at puppy Preschool, she only put it in her mouth twice, and that was during the times we were sitting and listening to the instructor. I've made sure I use it alot more, I've been play games with her while she has it on, and also doing all her training with it on. She is my first dog, and i'm not to sure on the right way of doing things so I was probably stressing for no reason, so far she has been great in everything we have done with her, I think Iwas expecting to much from her, I have to stop and remember that she is only young. Thanks to everyone for all the tips!

Hi, I've got a 91/2week old black Lab. We crate her, and I'm so glad we do, it has made house training her so easy. Our wire crate has something similar to small castors on the bottom of it, so it is easy for me to move. At 6am when I wake up, I wheel the crate outside from our back sun room, and leave it on our patio, so she has it for the day outside. Then at 7.30pm I wheel the crate back inside ready for her to settle into for the night. I have had her for two weeks, and for the first week I just put a baby gate on the door to the sun room, so she only had free run in that room, Her crate door was left open, and she came and went in her crate as she wished. I found that she always seemed to sleep in it anyway. Now she is quite happy for the door to be closed while she is in it at night time. We no longer have the baby gate up. At the puppy preschool that we go to the trainer said to be fair to the dog, where the dog is sleeping now is the place that you should be happy with them sleeping for the rest of their lives. In regards to crating her, I like the fact that she knows that is her special place, where no one disturbs her. (she has learnt this quickly) I've been making sure she gets used to us taking food from her bowl at meal times, and the other day I went to take a chicken neck out, she grabed what was left and ran and placed them into the crate knowing I wouldn't go there. She also collects her toys and places them in the corner of the crate to. Watching her and the way she treats her crate makes me believe that we have done the right thing by giving her one. I am definately an advocate for crates.

Hi, I'm just after some info or ideas on how to stop my 9week old labrador from chewing her lead. As soon as I attach her lead to her collar she chews at it, both the metal buckle and the lead. She is quite happy to walk along side on the lead, me but has to have the lead in her mouth. If it isn't she stops sits down and tries to grab it back in her mouth. I'm not sure what the best way to deal with this is? I want her to respect the lead, and not think of it as a toy. Thanks!

Name: Scout sex: Female Date of birth: 31/3/08 Age: 8 weeks old Colour: Black Breed: Labrador Hobbies: running in the back yard, chewing her chew toys Loves: Food, her "funky monkey" and getting praised Hate: Yet to find out.

Hi, I've read that if you put cream cheese or peanut butter on your babies feet the dog will be drawn to the treat on the babies feet, and will lick their feet rather than their face. Then apparently the dog accociates babies feet as something that might have a reward, and will greet tend to greet any baby at their feet, it said it can also help with a pup that jumps on babies. I'm going to try it with my nephew and our lab pup that we get next week, as I'd hate for my nephew to get a nip or pushed over on cement.

That's no good. My Fiance and I have both torn the cruciate ligament in our left knees playing Oztag. It's not nice. I used to have horses, however sold my last one about 3 years ago Hope your dog recovers soon.

Hi, I'm also from Wollongong, at the moment live in Woonona, but will be moving to Corrimal this weekend, as that's when the house we bought settles. In two and a half weeks we will be picking up our black labrador puppy. (unnamed at this stage, but thinking it will be Leila meaning dark beauty) I'm very excited. Once she settles in and has had her vaccinations, I'd love to meet up with some of you. Most of our friends are having babies, not getting puppies! So we will be looking for some dog company for the socialisation of our pup! I'll also be looking into joining one of the training groups you have all been discussing. Will post some pictures when we get our little one. Cheers! Katrina